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One in a series of profiles from the Spring 2011 issue of Champion magazine.

Paige’s pitch for life

By Gary Brown
NCAA.org

“You don’t have to be around Paige Ladenburger very long to realize she’s a special kid. She’s very caring about her teammates and has a great relationship with people outside of softball, too. She has that keen ability to make everyone feel important.”

That’s how Emporia State softball coach Kristi Bredbenner feels about her sophomore pitcher.

“Passionate, competitive and faithful,” are the words her teammates use to describe her.

But ask Ladenburger herself what descriptor she would pick, and she says after a humble pause, “I’m kind of a dork.”

If being a people person, inquisitive, eager to learn and passionate about excellence means you’re a “dork,” then the Topeka, Kan., native is probably right.

But Bredbenner sees it differently. “She just thinks she is goofy,” the six-year Hornets skipper said. “You know, she’s smart and intelligent and likes to have fun. To me, that’s a sign of maturity more than anything else.”

Ladenburger talked with Champion just hours before tossing a two-hit shutout in the nightcap of the Hornets’ season-opening doubleheader at Incarnate Word.

That performance picked up where Ladenburger left off in 2010 as the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association Freshman of the Year who led the league in ERA. She got the win in the MIAA championship game and tossed a no-hitter in the NCAA tournament to help the Hornets reach a regional final.

As of late March this year, Ladenburger is 6-0 and leads the team in ERA.

It’s no different off the field. A nursing major, Ladenburger is a straight-A student with plenty of ambition. She said she could see herself in a few years practicing in a different country.

Her competitive spirit is evident, as well. As compassionate as Ladenburger might be in her quest to help people, her goal as a pitcher is to help batters fail.

Paige Ladenburger bio

Sport: Softball.

School: Emporia State.

Class: Sophomore.

Major: Nursing.

Athletics accomplishments: 2010 Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association Freshman of the Year; led the league in ERA; pitched no-hitter in NCAA tournament game.

Academic accomplishments: Currently is a straight-A student in nursing.

What you didn’t know: Ladenburger is passionate about her faith. “My relationship with God is very important to me,” she said. “Everything could change, but he’s still the one thing that would make sense in my life.”

“Yeah, when I get on the field, I become a different Paige,” she said.

Either Paige appears to be effective. The non-pitcher Paige warms easily to people. She befriended a troubled teen who nearly died in a car accident and became an outcast in high school. Now, Joe White is part of the Ladenburger family and comes to nearly all the Emporia State games.

To be sure, family is important to Ladenburger.

“I like to say I am part of a lot of families,” she said. “I feel like I am part of a softball family, a nursing school family. I have a good family of roommates, and then obviously I have my real family (her parents and two sisters), which I am very close to. I feel like  I am part of a really great school and a good home.”

Coach Bredbenner certainly is happy to have Ladenburger in the softball family, even though her choice of major challenges Division II’s key attribute of balance.

“I am a little apprehensive with nursing majors, just because I know that it’s tough and that it demands a lot of time,” Bredbenner said. “But that balance is important – you don’t want a student to come here and feel like they have to be solely consumed with their sport and not have anything else.

“Paige has a great ability to multitask, and her intelligence will make a difference in that she’s not going to struggle with the coursework as much as some of the other students. Our nursing department actually likes having athletes because they tend to be responsible kids. Paige exemplifies that.”

Not surprisingly, Ladenburger credits the school for her college experience.

“Emporia State is the first place I visited, and even though my dad made me look at other schools, I knew this was where I wanted to be,” she said. “It’s a place where I can pursue the career that I chose, even though it is a challenging one, and still play softball. People here are committed to helping you do both.”